“Rock ‘n’ Blues” Fest Thursday At DTE Now A Tribute To Legendary Bluesman

NEW ORLEANS - APRIL 25: Blues Artist Johnny Winter performs at the 2009 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival at the Fair Grounds Race Course on April 25, 2009 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images)

Blues Artist Johnny Winter performs at the 2009 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival at the Fair Grounds Race Course on April 25, 2009 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images)

CLARKSTON (WWJ) – The “Rock’n’Blues Fest – A Tribute to Johnny Winter” comes to DTE Energy Music Theatre this week. Winter was originally slated to appear, but passed away on July 16th.

He was 70 years old.

Peter Rivera, formerly of Rare Earth, will be performing as part of the Blues Fest. In a live interview Monday with WWJ Newsradio 950’s Jackie Paige, Rivera said he’d been looking forward to seeing Winter.

Peter Rivera (Promotional photo)

“I knew him back in the 70s; we played a couple, two shows together, talked for a while,” Rivera said. “I was looking forward to it … but it’s gonna be good. We’ll tear it up and do our best to do all that.”

He calls Winter an Icon. “Although we hadn’t seen each other for years, I was certainly aware of his, you know, Grammy awards and the producing he did for other acts,” Rivera said. “He marched along for many years, and so did I, and…I was looking forward to seeing him,” Rivera said. “He was very strong and very well-known, and that’s a real good thing.”

The show Thursday, July 31st, will also feature Vanilla Fudge, Savoy Brown’s Kim Simmonds, and Johnny Winter’s brother, Edgar Winter.

“My wife, Monique, and I are shocked at the suddenness of Johnny’s passing, especially since I was so looking forward with such joy and anticipation to seeing him again and playing together,” said Edgar Winter, in a media release.

“I know his body is departing this physical realm, but his presence, his music, and his spirit are undiminished, and alive as ever in my heart. Johnny has always been, is now, and will forever remain my greatest musical hero of all time. But more than all that, he’s my brother – in family, in music, in life and beyond. I will do my best to carry on in honor of his memory and the Winter name.”